Antitrust Law
Realtors Win, FTC Loses Multilist Case
Posted Dec 13, 2007, 04:19 pm CDT
By Martha Neil
An administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., has sided with a Realtor group against the Federal Trade Commission, in one case in an ongoing national legal battle over efforts by Realtors to protect their turf from discount brokers.
Realcomp II Ltd., of Farmington Hills, Mich., near Detroit, does not have to allow discount real estate brokers the same access to its multiple listing service database of homes for sale that member Realtors get for their own full-service for-sale listings, decided Judge Stephen J. McGuire. However, the FTC is expected to appeal McGuire's decision to the full commission, which could overrule him, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
Nonetheless, the win is likely to encourage Realtors fighting similar cases against the FTC and Justice Department in other jurisdictions over restricting discount real estate brokers' access to the MLS, the newspaper predicts.
Regulatory officials contend that allowing Realtors to prevent discount brokers from making full use of MLS services unfairly restricts competition. But McGuire found that discount real estate services are still widely available in Realcomp's area of Michigan, and said the FTC didn't prove that Realcomp's restrictions "unreasonably restrained or substantially lessened" competition.
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